Basketball Jumps to #2 in AP Rankings
We (rightfully) jumped Tennessee for the #2 spot in the rankings.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
Also notable: Michigan received 9 first place votes. Michigan edged UT by one point - 1472 to 1471.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^
Wouldn't be surprised if Michigan falls to 3 next week. That margin is too slim and Michigan's non-conference schedule has looked weaker and weaker with each passing week. It will probably look much stronger at the end of the season than it does now.
December 24th, 2018 at 2:29 PM ^
I don't know that I agree it's gotten weaker and weaker. UNC, Nova, and Purdue all have some losses but UNC taking down Gonzaga and Nova blowing out UConn with wins against FSU, Ok St., Temple, St. Joe's. For us, those 3 wins are probably a top 10, top 20, and top 30 win respectively. Optimistically, that's probably where they end the season as well.
December 24th, 2018 at 6:15 PM ^
Don't forget Providence. They're 10-3 with road wins over Texas and Boston College.
December 24th, 2018 at 8:51 PM ^
I’d just like to remind you that Purdue isn’t a non-conference game.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
Letttssss Gooooooo!
December 24th, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
It is hard to decipher the last few games. On one hand the players were not interested so should not judge too harshly, on the other hand I really would have like to see Johns or Dejulius look like a legit this year player. I don’t think we need a lot of output from both, but we need one of those guys to be a rotation player, preferably Johns.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
There have been a couple articles about both guys in the last week or two, and the main takeaway is that they're still learning the offense and getting better on D. They'll be fine long term, but hopefully the team doesn't find itself in situations where they're required to play before they're ready.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^
That said, both have looked decidedly uncomfortable when give the opportunity, and not just on the defensive end of the court. I thought their offense would allow them to see some playing time, but given what I saw against AF, I understand Beilein's reluctance.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
I think it is largely defense that is holding Johns back at this point. On Sat he came in in the first half when the score was still close. In two times down the floor he got lost on a play and gave up a lay-up, on the next possession fouled a 3 point shooter. He promptly came out after that. Just needs to keep working and hopefully as you say, he helps significantly yet this season.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:57 PM ^
It seems to me that DeJulius is close. He seems to pass the eye test, but his shot just isn't falling. Super excited for him in the future though
December 24th, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
I think #2 is exactly right. But I do think a game against Duke would be great!
December 24th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
Pencil them in for a game in late March or early April for a neutral site game. Maybe the winner should get a trophy.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^
What a nice Christmas eve gift, praise the Lord! Go blue.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^
Cool that this was posted just below and no one is blowing up the OP. Must be that we aired all our grievances on the Festivus post!
Great to see us ranked high. Even with a couple of B1G losses we should get a 1 seed
December 24th, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
ESPN was the earlier #2 ranking, not AP, right?
December 24th, 2018 at 3:37 PM ^
I missed that!
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December 24th, 2018 at 12:38 PM ^
Go Blue!
December 24th, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^
great to see... Michigan has looked, at points this season, phenomenal... but at times lackadaisical.
I don't think anyone should be too concerned though; Beilein teams have typically taken time to 'figure things out', so the fact that this team is already ahead at this point, bolds well as they continue to learn and continue to gell as a unit.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:48 PM ^
Ugh. I’m going to be that guy... Do these rankings even matter until March?
December 24th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
Does anything other than the health of family/children matter, ever?!
December 24th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
Exactly! In the grand scheme of things, sports don’t matter at all, but let us Michigan fans enjoy how well this team is playing dammit!!
December 24th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
Yes, they matter. Think of how many fake No. 1 or No. 2 seeds MSU got over the years and then parlayed that into a Final Four and "Mr. March" accolades that they did not deserve. Idiot committee members are totally swayed by rankings.
December 24th, 2018 at 3:02 PM ^
Alright! I’m good with that reasoning :-)
December 24th, 2018 at 4:52 PM ^
Dude...c'mon.
I'm all for making fun of MSU but I don't remember them ever getting a "fake" 1 or 2 seed. They were pretty fucking good from 99-01 when they went to 3 FF's and we're 1 seeds.
Regular season success determines your seeding. Not how good you are perceived. Michigan in 2013 easily could have been a 1 seed but they played pretty mediocre basketball in the B1G and got a 4, which they deserved.
Like Virginia last year. There was nothing "fake" about them getting their seed. They earned it.
December 24th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
Word is the UT bagmen are working through the holiday to buy more AP voters
December 24th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
I wish we had a spreadsheet of the AP voter’s ballots like we had for football season.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:07 PM ^
It would require an unprecedented calamity for us to not make the NCAAs, so developing our depth is more important than maintaining a lofty ranking. If we don't develop that depth behind Teske, foul trouble could be a fatal vulnerability during the tournament.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
Yep. You know Teske is going to get tested against Wisky, Sparty, OSU, and maybe even Nebraska. He allowed Pardon (NW) nearly free access to the paint to avoid foul trouble. Davis and CC are not viable options at this point. Livers is not a 5 although he has worked out well in a limited role.
December 24th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^
Johns is not a 5 either, although they are certainly trying to make him one.
December 25th, 2018 at 11:00 PM ^
I love these comments that assume depth isn't being developed just because those guys aren't playing in games.
It's called practice! These guys play thousands of possessions/reps per week in practice. Games are practically negligible when it comes to their full work load. They'll develop in practice and when they're ready and have proven they know what they're doing in practice, they'll play more.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
Glad the AP found some level of sanity in moving us ahead of Tennessee.
But just want to make sure - the team ahead of us, made up of freshman prima donnas, has lost a game, and has yet to play a true road game on an opponent's court. Huh...
We are the #1 team in the country right now.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:36 PM ^
Look, I'm as big a Michigan fan as anybody, but Duke is a better team than Michigan is.
That's not to say that Michigan won't be better by March, or that Michigan couldn't win a game between the two -- but, on a neutral court, Duke would (rightly) be favored right now.
Focusing strictly on the number of losses isn't right in football and it's not right in basketball either. Neither Purdue nor Villanova look that great this year. Duke's one loss is by two points to a legitimate top-10 Gonzaga team, and they blew out a Kentucky team that just beat the same North Carolina team Michigan did.
There's a reason that Duke got 35 of 64 first-place votes. (I can think of no reason, OTOH, that Kansas got 4).
You are correct about one thing, though. The sudden influx of idiotic Vol trolls aside, Tennessee is not a top-5 basketball team. KenPom has them 11th; Torvik, 8th; Sagarin, 11th. (To be fair, Massey does have them 5th). They're trading on a legitimately good win over Gonzaga and a close loss to Kansas. Other than that, I guess we're supposed to be impressed that they beat Louisville.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^
Agree with most of your post, but Villanova and Purdue are both top 20 in KenPom as we sit here a week shy of 2019.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:54 PM ^
That's true, but I think a lot of that is based on preseason numbers still. Purdue is 7-5, with losses to Michigan, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Notre Dame, and Texas. None of those are bad losses, but it's not the résumé of a top team. Their only two category-B-or-better wins are Maryland and Davidson.
Villanova is 9-4, with a nice win over Florida State and a decent win over Oklahoma State. They also have a close loss at Kansas. However, they have the Furman and Penn losses.
They're both solid wins, but, IMO, they're not as good as they looked at the time.
December 24th, 2018 at 2:25 PM ^
Fair enough. I think we'll see Villanova assert themselves in Big East play and come out as a 5 or 6 seed. Purdue I'm less sure of.
December 24th, 2018 at 2:01 PM ^
I think Duke is definitely more talented, but on a game to game basis, it's very clear they are freshmen and clear they are very beatable. Their game against Texas Tech was a terrible game to watch
December 24th, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
It's honestly crazy that Duke has yet to play a true road game yet, not sure how that's possible
December 24th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
Ample liquidity!
December 24th, 2018 at 1:23 PM ^
LOL! Rightfully? Let's examine the schedule so far. The current strength of schedule:
https://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rankings/sos?&_3:col_1=4&_3:col_2=8
TN: 9th Michigan: 103rd
Your team will get exposed at some point.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^
Haven't you trolls gotten bored yet?
Also, I think CBS is ignoring the Vols' rousing victory over Lenoir-Rhyne, which is a real thing that actually happened. (It's Rick Barnes's alma mater).
KenPom puts Tennessee's and Michigan's schedules into a similar range -- 148th for Michigan and 92nd for Tennessee.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:30 PM ^
Hey Vol, Your mouth will get deez nutz at some point!!
December 24th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
Into gummers eh?
December 24th, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
Just too bad Burt Reynolds put a couple arrows through his relatives in Deliverance!
December 24th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
Oh wait I see. You are going to give him a Manning special.
December 24th, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
Wait, you're a Tennessee fan who actually created a troll account on a Michigan fan blog for the holidays?
December 24th, 2018 at 4:02 PM ^
December 24th, 2018 at 4:40 PM ^
There's no need to be a grumpy gill.